1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a user interface, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for providing a user interface based on information acquired from a Web page.
2. Description of the Related Art
A user interface is a technology that grants a user a temporary or continuous access to information so that communication can be conducted between the user and an object, a system, a device, or a program.
Users spend more and more time in searching for information through the Internet and surfing the Web and, hence, a good user interface heightens the user's experience on the Web. Most of Web pages in Web or Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) sites on the Internet include a paging interface. The paging interface includes an index indicating a current displayed Web page and an index hyperlinked to at least one other Web page. For example, most of various blogs and portal sites such as Google, Flicker, etc. include paging interfaces, wherein a hyperlink on a current page allows the user to view a second or subsequent page. In addition, the second or subsequent page may include further hyperlinks that allows the user to view even further Web pages.
FIG. 1 illustrates typical user interfaces of Web pages displayed on screens 110, 120 and 130 that include paging interfaces 112, 122 and 132, respectively. If a user wants to turn to Web page 2 from a current Web page, the user may need to touch the key indicated by the number 2 in the paging interface 112 displayed on the current Web page 110. When the paging interface 112 is small on the screen 110, as in a portable terminal, the user may need to zoom in in order to expand the interface 112 to be of sufficient size to click or tap on the object indicated by the number 2, 114, which represents a hyperlink to Web page 2 in the paging interface 112. If the current Web page is partially displayed on the screen 110, excluding the paging interface 112, the user may need to move the current Web page on the screen 110 by, for example, scrolling, so that the paging interface 112 may appear on the screen 110.
Similarly, with reference to screen 120, if the user wants to access a next Web page, the user may click or tap on an object 128 (i.e. index 2) next to an object 124 (index 1) indicating the current Web page in the paging interface 122. If the screen 120 is relatively small, as in the portable terminal, it is not easy to accurately click or tap on the object 128 with a finger or a pen. Thus the user may incorrectly select index 3 unintentionally instead of the index 2 (object 128).
With reference to screen 120, the user may access a next page by selecting a Next object 126. However, because of the small size of the field containing the term “next” the user may not precisely engage the “next” button.
In another user interface, screen 130, the user may click or tap on an object 138 to step to a previous page or on an object 136 to step to a next page in the paging interface 132 on the screen 130. Even when the user goes to their intended Web page using the object 136 or 138 on the screen, the user may need to take an additional action, such as shift or zoom-in, according to the position or size of the paging interface included in the current Web page. In case of an image device having a relatively large screen, such as a TV or a monitor, a Web page including a paging interface may be displayed and the image device may receive a user input signal through a remote controller or a keyboard. Herein, a time delay may occur in response to a user's request to move a cursor to an object included in the paging interface and select the object in order to switch to a particular Web page. Considering that users tend to search for intended Web pages in a short time by looking through titles, headings, etc. rather than attentively reading search results as is done in Google search, use of the conventional user interfaces may cause a time delay and a mistaken manipulation in the course of searching for and selecting an object connected to an intended hyperlink in a paging interface.
Accordingly, there exists a need for a user interface that reduces a time delay and user's manipulation mistakes in switching from a Web page displayed on a screen to another Web page and that effectively acquires a response to a page request.